Tensiya releases Dollshe Tan SA Bermann Il Milione

Didn't she say

However, according to Sabriell, who seems to know all the details of what went on, only those who bid 2000$ were even considered. Shouldn't she have just said that the price was 2000$ and let people fight it out?

(I'm also somewhat disappointed that seemingly so many people who already have a Bermann (or two or three) won while others who don't even have one didn't win. )

 

Sometimes people want to have more than one, two, or more of the same doll...limited or not...because they love the mold or want to have more for collections.

Is normal. ^ ^;

 

I agree. I have a few sets of twins, some of rare dolls. I think it's perfectly normal when you love a certain mold.

 

I think it's fine for people to really love a mould and want more then one; but at what point does it really become too much? I mean technically people with more then one are depriving others (who also really want and love the mould) of having the mould for themselves.

 

Sounds like a good post for the discussion Forum. ^_^

 

Maybe she didn't think that she was going to get 1000 applications? At that point, only considering the people who offered $2000 would have narrowed it down, at least a bit. Did she get close to 1000 applications last release? I don't know.

That part is disappointing to me, too... but maybe she doesn't know who already has one! I mean, with all the different names, user names, email addresses people use, keeping track of who you have sold to in the past few years would be difficult. Or, maybe those people purchased second hand? Or did they screen the applications down to 300, then put those in a hat, and the people who won that already owned a Bermann are just really really lucky? I don't know, and since I don't know, I would give them (Anu, Sherry, Momo, whoever had to narrow down the list) the benefit of the doubt until I found out otherwise.

And even if there was 'favoritism', they are hers to sell, so I'd just have to deal with that.

 

Are you talking about through Tensiya or just in general? I have seen plenty of Limited Dolls come up on the secondhand marketplace open to all, anyone can own them as long as they have the money.

 

With all the limited dolls, and all the people who own multiple limited dolls, why is it that people only want to restrict others from owning more than one Bermann?

And say such negative things about those owners? I have seen horrible things said in so many places, it's shameful. I don't see people slamming others because they have two or three Tsukasas or Madokas. Does this mean that at the next Volks function everyone who has won a one-off can not participate? Or the same with the Sei Tenshis?

Having bad feelings is understandable, attacking others for having a doll isn't. Restricting others from being able to buy a doll also isn't okay. How many people saying all of these negative things about others turn down two or more Bermanns?

The last Bermann issue was based on time of e-mail received. So the first 33 e-mails that filled the orders of the dolls received were picked.

This one was not based on anything special. Unless someone has specific knowledged directly from TensiYa stating there was favoritism, it seems very wrong to make this accusation. I know for a fact that some people who only wrote the specific information asked for were chosen. I don't know about everyone, but writing a sob story did not make a difference.

People may not like the way each of these dolls have been sold, but I think it is that TensiYa keeps trying to find a better way to do it, not having realized the demand for the dolls, and each time there are even more people wanting them. People can play Monday morning quarterback, but unless you are in TensiYa's shoes, you don't know what it's like to have to handle this.

 

I guess this means that based on your concept, everyone that has a specific Limited doll should not be allowed to ever get another of that same doll? Because they are "depriving others".

This isn't food or shelter or air, it's a doll. So no one is being "deprived". Save your money and be persistant and you can also have one. Or two, or three...

Sorry you didn't get the doll you wanted, but really, can you say that you would do the same and mean it? Of course you can say it...

People need to stop taking out their hurt feelings on others. It does no good and only makes this hobby look bad.

 

Several winners have already admitted to "embellishing" their applications, even if it was something as simple and innocent as thanking Anu for the opportunity to possibly acquire one of her dolls. In my last post I did say that the content of the applications may not have had anything to do with their decision... BUT based on: a) the word-for-word quote from Sherry I bolded in my last post; b) the fact that this is not the first time that a Bermann release has been called into question; and c) the fact that it has yet to be clarified exactly how these winners were choosen -- all leaves one to logically suspect that something MAY not be 100% kosher somewhere.

Ya' know, if this were the first (or even second) time a Bermann release had been screwed up in some way, I might be inclined to agree with you. Let's re-cap, shall we... lest we all forget (again):

--Shinsengumi & Valentino: I shoulda' took my chance when I had it, but noooooo, I decided to wait because I might like a later Bermann better... HA!
--Hu-die-meng: Me: ..."Gee, these guys sold out a bit faster than I expected... oh well, wasn't all that crazy about the outfit anyway... next Bermann please."
--Heimdal: Gone in a flash. Tensiya: "Oops, so sorry, our server mess up and we sell too many Heimdal Bermann." Us: "WTF?!"
--Hwarang: Tensiya: "Oh, so sorry again... this Bermann go to winners who thought they won Heimdal but didn't." Us: "WTF?!"
--Manu, Le Etranger, & Mr. Fogg: This release gave us all the false hope that, with *33* dolls being released at once, we might *actually* have a better chance of winning one ("one" being the keyword here, or so we assummed). Because of the Heimdal/Hwarang debacle, orders are taken via email... at a specific time... on a first-come-first-served basis -- meaning people with dial-ups, or computer/internet problems, or don't get Tensiya emails, or under-/overestimate the time it takes for their email(s) to go through, etc... are just S.O.L. But hey, it's okay because it's all "timing", "luck of the draw", and my personal favorite, "karma". BUT, to add further insult to injury we soon discover that some winners won not one but even TWO and ALL THREE of these dolls. There was nothing wrong with allowing one entry, per doll, per person (for one chance at each doll but THREE total chances to win *A* Bermann--ANY Bermann). The problem was that Anu apparently didn't have the common sense(?!) to THEN limit ONE DOLL PER WINNER. Simple as that. She could've let the the multiple-doll winners choose their favorite then let the other doll(s) go to the next people in line, or simply gone by the email timestamp on the multiple-doll winners (the first email that arrived was the doll they won). Us: "WTF?!... Again!" (Do I sense a pattern developing here?...)
--OOAK for Dollectable Convention: No, not technically a Bermann release... but it's still a *chance* to get an Anu Bermann--and viewed my many as literally a FAIRER chance to get him than Anu's previous releases have been. However, although eagerly watched, most people don't bother to bid, automatically assuming that, like most Bermanns on eBay, the price will skyrocket. Average income Joe: "Snowball's chance in hell..." Result: price did not skyrocket. Us: "WTF?!"
--Il Milione: ... ... *pokes initial mass reply from Sherry with great trepidation* Me: "Hmm... a 'bid' system?... no time limit?... weeelllll, it does sooouuund better than the *last* method... *sigh* okay, so I'm a crackhead, I'll bite!" Yet in the back of our minds most of us are thinking "Why set a limit at 'only' $2000?" ... knowing full well (or at least suspecting) that there will be a LOT of people--certainly more than 11--willing and able to "bid" the full amount (if not more). I mean, surely Anu has not remained somehow blissfully unaware of how desirable Bermann is and how much he demands at auction, or that she honestly thought that fewer than 11 people would be willing to bid 2k for him?! But lo' and behold, once again, our fears are confirmed and we discover that that's EXACTLY what happened, and we are further informed that the decision of choosing the winners was "agonizing"--strongly implying that the 11 winners were choosen with SOME thought and purpose, whatever the deciding factor(s) may've been, because I sure as hell wouldn't call a random draw "agonizing". (Unless it was "agonizing" for them to admit that they screwed up the release process yet again.) Us: "WTF?!... AGAIN?!"

Perhaps "favoured" is too strong. But my point still stands, please refer to my comments in re-cap above. A lottery system should have happened looong ago.

Anu would find out the same way any of us would: simple online investigation (DoA signatures, profiles, databases, relative threads, blogs, etc., etc.) In fact, lots of people do keep personal lists of specific dolls and their owners, especially when it comes to LEs, and with Bermann in particular. (For the record, I gave up on my Bermann Owner list long ago, heh.)

It is common knowledge that there IS a Bermann Club in Korea. We Westerners have at least gained some peripheral access to it through CyWorld but for the most part it still remains an exclusive club by nature (i.e. it's in Korea), if not also by purpose (i.e. yes, Bermann owners do like to think themselves a bit special in general, as do owners of certain Volks dolls and other LEs). This is proven by the fact that the Korean CyWorld Bermann Club members are offered exclusive Bermann heads and other perks that we (understandably, I suppose) are not. And I'm quite sure that Anu et al are members of that club, at least honorarily, if not actively. Clubs, by their very nature, always produce bias and preferential treatment. Birds of a feather an' all...

It is also common knowledge that a number of outgoing/ambitious/bilingual members of the western Bermann/BJD community have managed to befriend Anu, Momo, Sherry, members of the Korean Cyworld Bermann Club, and other Korean/Japanese BJD sources, and are therefore sometimes privy to "inside" information -- which also works out for the rest of us because they act as BJD ambassadors and help bridge the gaps that language, culture, and distance often create. But... it also sets up the potential for bias and favoritism because all human beings are naturally inclined to be more friendly and helpful toward those we know and have established a good rapport with, as opposed to people we don't know at all. Like the saying goes, it's not what you know, but who you know. And if y'all don't think that holds as true in the BJD community as anyplace else in this world then I've got a bridge I'd like to sell ya'.

I disagree... it is the underlying and continuing SENSE OF UNFAIRNESS (and suspicion) that has created this infamous "Bermann Drama"--not anger from self-pity (implied). Had these releases at some point been conducted as a "Volks-style" blind lottery we wouldn't have anywhere near this level of drama and animosity. (And I wouldn't have to bore y'all with my long-ass rants. )

That still doesn't mean that there wasn't some NON-RANDOM factor(s) that led Sherry/Anu to choose her entry (and the other 10) over all others.

And just to clarify, all of those "deciding factors" I listed in my last post were just possibilities, pulled purely from my own wandering mind. I was NOT saying that any of those (i.e. content of application, already owning Bermann(s), or no Bermann, etc.) actually did impact the decision process in any way. But because of Anu's past record, and the lack of a clear explanation for their "agonizing" decision, one's mind is naturally left to wander and such obsurd(!) ideas DO tend to enter one's mind.

I honestly don't know what bothers me more: Anu's repeatedly questionable release methods in general... or the fact that so many people tip-toe around the issue EVERY TIME it happens, never to hold Anu HERSELF responsible (for whatever reason). But then, there's only one Bermann release left so I guess it really doesn't much matter anymore anyway...

 

I'm still curious who got the other five Il Miliones, but given the way this discussion has gone, if those people are on this board, they probably won't want to come out of the woodwork at this point.

 

EXACTLY.
And so it has been before and so it will be after. Because they fear being attacked or have been attacked. =_=;;

 

I agree and I for one do not feel bad for winning not one, not two, but yes three Bermanns from Tensiya after purchasing one on the secondhand market for a ton of money, I will not let people make me feel bad for owning my dream doll and I will take pics and enjoy them to my fullest regardless of what others think and I will not hide my dolls, I bought them to enjoy them and that's just what I am going to do.

I feel bad that the winners are afraid to come out and say they won, I feel bad that the winners cannot enjoy the fact that they won their dream doll, jeez.

And I do believe in karma, silly as it may seem.

 

you keep stating "it's common knowledge" ect, yet do you have actually statements from people verifying all your accusations? So someone says thank you or I really like your dolls and that is "embellishing"?

I'm not even going to get into internet rumors, ect, this is going on way too long.

I would suggest if you have problems with the way TensiYa handles their business that you write them instead of making accusations that are not necessarily true. I myself own a Bermann, won it fair and square, don't know anyone in Korea, have no inside info, have never "fawned" over Anu or anyone. I submitted to the most recent one, just put the info that they requested, and was chosen. I have not done anything that you accuse people of and find it rather insulting you paint with such a broad brush.

And I was not going to post about the second doll here, but the negative comments I have been reading are making me physically ill.

If people would take all this negative energy and go do something positive with it, like go make some money, there is a Bermann on Ebay right now and you can go buy that and stop being so negative to others. And if you have a problem with TensiYa, you need to contact them there. No one here on this board can solve your problems.

 

Let's do this quickly and cut to the chase:

Fact: Kim, you don't know 100% how Anu and Tensiya have done their picks with this last release. There were 1000 entries and to say out of 1000 only 11 people were: polite and embellished the emails, they all have connections to Anu, or they kissed up to her, is ridiculous.

To me, this really does look like a mix of random and familiarity. However way it was done, it's done. Some people are new to Bermann, some people aren't. It's Anu's company and she can do whatever she wants with her creations. Is that right? You can be the judge. If you hate it so much, don't buy from her. End of story.

I find this all rather interesting how all these words of "favoritism" was thrown around, yet no one ever accuses Volks of such things in their lottery. They have the same connections, if not more so to magazines and so forth. I am a huge supporter of Volks, don't get me wrong, but they have never explained their lottery system and no one has every asked them to. Frankly, Anu shouldn't even bother to explain a darn thing to us and just hand out the Bermanns as she sees fit. Her business, her dolls and she has every right to choose who gets them... and I bet all this trouble would go away. If you think there isn't favoritism in the doll industry, in the American doll industry, you really are mistaken. People sell to who they want to sell to... always have and always will (and I get my information through the doll manufacturers and writers I've spoken with over the past four years).

Is the next release going to be any better? We can be positive and hope.

And yes, I'm one of those awful people with multiple Bermanns to those that don't know me. I've taken a lot of grief over the years. Whatever. And I will get more grief I'm sure if/when my doll family grows. Oh well.

 

"Admitted to 'embellishing' their applications"

Lawyer-speak at its silliest.

 

accidental_subjects, am I reading your post correctly that you won an Il Milione Bermann? does that make seven winners now? if so, Congratulations.

And I understand not wanting to post here. I too own other Bermanns (none of which were bought from Tensiya/Anu) and knew what I'd get when I posted, but I remembered how I told Sdink when she was concerned about her multiple Bermann win last time on top of the one she already had that she should just post away and not care what others say. So I would be a big hypocrite if I didn't do the same. And I want to enjoy my win with the other people and stop feeling like I have to skulk around in the bushes or the Bermann Police are gonna come after me. I have multiples of just about every doll whose sculpt I like: Hound, MSD F-09, old F-29, and Bermann being some of my favorites. That's just how I roll, and don't feel a need to explain it any more than that.

 

Kim, if you're so angry, why don't you message Anu or Sherry on the 1:1 board and ask for a better explanation of how the lottery was run? Maybe then you can get something that will satisfy you it was done fairly. The posts I've seen from you so far have been speculation as to how the selection method has been handled.

If you get an answer - let everyone else know, because I'm pretty sure they haven't elected to divulge their methods so far. As is their right.

 

The way I see it: you win, you win; you don't, you don't. If you are that upset, then try ebay. Seriously. Maybe you weren't meant to get one if the first thing you do is turn around and bash the very person who made Your CHANCE at these dolls possible. It is just chance. You want a better chance, then bid high on ebay. Then the only limiting factor is your $$ and your determination.

I have friends who own multiple Bermanns, Hounds, and other various Dollshe boys. They have determination and a deep LOVE for the dolls and company. They are not bad people. In fact, they are no different than the person with the broken Obitsu at their very first doll meet except for experience. And they put the broken Obitsu in with their Bermann's and made very beautiful pictures.

I own two limited dolls. Twins in fact! I bought one during the time I was able to, and the other I bought second hand. I waited for months for my opportunity to come around for the second one. I don't feel that it is unfair to the rest of the world, because I had the money and the CHANCE to get them.

I am very happy for all of the winners of the Bermann. The time was not right for me to put in an application, but I wished the best for every one else!

 

I want to thank those of you who have sent me PMs and emails congratulating me. It's very sweet of you.

Mercy - well said, and FunnyLori and Bunnydots - ditto.

who knows how this was done? I just can't listen to Anu-bashing. I'm not a close friend of hers, but have admired her since the CustomHouse days. I bought from Tensiya when it started and loved Bermann all the more because it was HER creation as well as Kim Ki Young's.

Our dolls are a mirror of what we are and what we wish to be. Let's imagine what we would look like as resin creations reflecting our thoughts and actions, and try to make a beautiful image and really be grateful to have our friends here to share the good, the bad and the WTF.
​